Liquid ring compressors of this general type are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,782, the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
When a gas-liquid mixture is drawn into a liquid ring compressor, a large quantity of liquid is frequently drawn in to the suction chamber with the gas to be compressed. The drawn-in liquid reaches the working chamber of the compressor in addition to the normal operating fluid. As a rule, liquid ring compressors are designed only to deliver a small additional quantity of liquid. Furthermore, when designing the liquid ring compressor the quantity of liquid to be delivered is usually unknown, which makes it difficult to specially design a liquid ring compressor to deliver a larger quantity of liquid. The presence of a large quantity of liquid in the liquid ring compressor impairs compressor performance and increases power requirements.
The objective of this invention is to provide a liquid ring compressor of this general type in which the performance of the liquid ring compressor remains unimpaired regardless of the quantity of liquid contained in a gas-liquid mixture drawn in by the compressor.